I mean, the way I'd look at it is, since it looks like you had the last one for 4 years, you may have this one for 4 years, so you're paying $20k to rent the car for 4 years. At $5k/year, it would be like leasing one for ~$417/mo with $0 down, which is quite good.

Bought a new 2008 (left over) XC70 on 4/09 in Southern Cali, list price $48,100. Loaded with options, similar new 2009 lists for $4,000.00 less. Paid 33,200. I have always leased my cars (usually BMW's for @ 15 years) but this deal seemed to good to be true. We love the car and have a total of 200 miles and one warranty service already. Maybe this is a result of being owned by Ford! The dealer who serviced the car "Rusnack Volvo Pasadena" has bent over backwards to make things right, even though I did not purchase the car from them. Other than having to add bluetooth we are very excited about the new ride and are enjoying the "Grateful Dead Channel" on Serious Sat, while rolling down the road!

I drove my first Volvo last night and to say I was deeply impressed is a major understatement. I absolutely loved it. I drove two different XC 70's -- both five years old and far more solid than many new American cars, and the seats - to die for! I was really amazed at how well it drove, handled, the power, all of it. It was like nothing I had ever driven before. But having said all that gushy stuff......

I am not at the point of buying anything yet, despite a moment of serious temptation last night. I have heard some real horror stories about Volvo lemons :lemon: that would put you in the poorhouse and on the opposite end of the spectrum, have heard from many near religous devotees who swear they are the best car ever made and run them to 250K miles with no problems. I've heard little in between. It leaves me to wonder what the deal is. Are some years bad years? Is it just luck of the draw?

I will have a very modest budget for replacing my leased Impala. I really can't go over about $350 per month, so my only option would be to purchase one with some years and miles on it. The great attraction to a car like this IS the possibility of getting many good years from it after it's paid off, unlike certain other American vehicles that have been disposable at five years old. (Like a certain Intrepid that broke my heart and my bank account before I ditched it! ) But on the other hand, it won't do me much good to have a nice car that's always in the shop and bankrupting me.

So I would really love to hear from some XC70 owners - the good, the bad and the ugly. I have plenty of time to make decisions -- my lease isn't up for months yet. If I do decide to go this route, I want to make sure I walk into it with my eyes wide open.

Look at the Subaru Outback and Forester and compare with the XC70. There are some maintenance problems with the Volvo geartronic transmission and all-wheel-drive (AWD) and turbocharger systems. Be sure to compare Subarus with the same safety equipment as the XC70--full airbags and dynamic stability and traction control.

I got a 2004 V70 base model 2.4L 168 hp gasoline non-turbo as a hand-me-down and it has performed perfectly. It is great on the interstate, great mpg, but cannot handle rough roads.

I have heard some real horror stories about Volvo lemons :lemon: that would put you in the poorhouse and on the opposite end of the spectrum, have heard from many near religous devotees who swear they are the best car ever made and run them to 250K miles with no problems. I've heard little in between. It leaves me to wonder what the deal is.

When researching cars, this is pretty much the norm you will find on the internet. Keep in mind, folks seek out a forum on which to spew the extreme examples (for the most part). Those thousands and thousands of owners who have no issues have no reason to go looking for a forum on which they can vent.

Thanks Jim! I very much intended to go and look at Subarus as well as several other things that interest me. I also like the Honda CRV even though it's a completely different animal - looked at one of them like 2 years ago. Drove a Ford Edge two weeks ago and was surprised how much I liked it as well. K.

You make a VERY good point! I have noticed that when looking at many different vehicles American, European, Japanese, etc. There are few reviews in the middle of the bell curve!

I was given some very good advice by an experienced mechanic today. He said if it's a used Volvo and you know it's been regularly serviced by the dealership, it is probably a very good bet. But if you don't know where it's been, or who may have done what to it, run away, run away as they say in Monty Python! He said in his experience, local mechanics, good as they may be on 'normal' cars don't have the extremely pricey software needed to even do normal maintenance on Volvos and thus they get permanently screwed up. I never would have thought about that - as unmechanically inclined as I am, I thought an oil change is an oil change! :surprise: Would you all tend to agree with him?

Do you want a SUV or a wagon? How important is AWD and how much do you plan to do with it?

Look at the Outback... if I coulda found an XT with the manual, or if I hadn't found the particular V70 I ended up with, I'd probably have an Outback. Look at the Forester. If you want an SUV and AWD is important to you, look at the Toyota RAV4.

Hi ronsteve, thanks for the thoughts! In truth, I am not picky whether SUV or wagon, or whether AWD or not. I have briefly looked at the RAV4 and I also got a good impression from it. I have not yet gone to look at Subarus, but they are on my list.

Regarding a choice between a Subaru and a Volvo, I can only say that having had both the choice is very clear. We had owned Volvos until 2003 when we opted to purchase a 2000 Outback. Auto ran fine until 65,000 miles and then the clutch, cooling system and brake trouble began. We have spent nearly $5000 over the past 3 years and the vehicle noise is loud inside (gaskets on front windows replaced and still no good). After reading good and bad about the XC70, we are trading in that bad Subaru for a solid quiet Volvo. By the way, you can find a blog for dissatisfied Subaru owners through Google. Apparently, Subaru was well aware of head gasket problems during the 1999-2002 years and did little to stand by their vehicles. Hope this helps!

Would you please post the residuals and money factors for a Volvo XC70 (both trims), whichever term (up to 48 months) is most favorable, lowest mileage allowed by Volvo. I understand Chase underwrites their leases, correct?

I've posted here in the past about the problems we have had with our 2001 XC. Some were fairly critical. I didn't think that the newly restyled XC was any improvement. Was I wrong.

A week or so ago, we bought a new 2009 XC with premium and techonology for MSRP, less 10K. It was a painless transaction with Lee Volvo in Wellesley, MA. While I recognize that our brand new 2009 is now one model year old, we keep cars for a long time and the 2009's still have the five year free scheduled maintenance and five year warranty. The new 2010's have only 4 years.

We like the car a lot. It has clearly much less torque steer, is a lot quicker, and has better ride than than the 2001. Plus lots of little features that make it a great car for New England: heated headlight washers, a conservative non-wheel bending tire profile, SERIUS radio (yep, anyone driving in rural VT or NH better have SERIUS), etc. Although the technology package contained zenons and a better sterio and not much else we wanted it for increased safety on dark nights. Curiosly enough, our XC with premium and technology (only) came through with nicely tinted rear windows although it wasn't mentioned as being part of either package.

Why a Volvo XC instead of an Audi or BMW wagon? Afterall, at this stage in the game we could afford to have gone German. Easy. With the 6K factory incentive, the 2.5K loyaty incentive and the dealer contribution we paid about 34K. No way an Audi or a 5 Series wagon would have been within 20K of that. Leaving money aside, the ride is great, the seats are the best in the industry (as our 2001 seats are), the wheels are not super low profile, and it has all the bells and whistles we need. (I am still not sure if I had had the choice if I would have gone for the turbo version for 2K more.)

In the meantime, we kept the 2001 XC. Don't know why except maybe we are a glutton for punishment. At 105,000 miles it runs like a train (and always has: the suspension and brakes have always been issues) but we are told the drive shaft center carrier bearing is worn and the drive shaft will begin moving around shortly. This would be no big deal in most cars as you would just drop the drive shaft and replace the center carrier bearing. Volvo? Nope. You can't buy the center support separately and have to buy the whole driveshaft for $1100.

In a post above I commented how happy we are with my wife' new 2009 XC70. I may have not been effusive enough. We really like the car and she is enjoying it immensely. Great ride, great seats, nice new features over the older versions, and on and on. Which leads me to a question.

I'm puzzled why the XC70 doesn't sell better. What is the competition? Below it we have Suburu wagons which seem to do well with the my-car-is-an appliance crowd. Above Volvo we have the Germans with their AWD wagons (Audi, BMW, and MB) which for the comparable size are maybe 20K more money. It seems to me that Volvo occupies the sweet spot in the middle offerring a good ride, great interior (lifted from the S80) and seating, no overwhelming tech features like i Drive, some panache, and so forth. Sure, the Volvo "brand" isn't as powerful as BMW or MB but the lower price surely must make up for that. Sure, the local Volvo dealer's facilities aren't as grand as the local MB dealer, but who cares?

Moreover, not only is the XC70 priced right, because it IS priced right, the XC70 is more suitable to the task of being an all weather family hauler of kids, groceries, hockey equipment bags, etc. In other words, do you really want to use an E Class wagon or a 5 Series to haul Seamus and his three high school friends and their gear off to hockey practice in the middle of snow storm? Do you really want to drive a new E Class wagon to BJs or Sams Club and load $400 worth of stuff into it and hope that the guy next to you doesn't nick you with his cart? Do you really want to risk bending a 5 Series tire/wheel in a Northeast US pothole?

My take on it? Women hate station wagons, and love SUVs.. If it rides up high like a truck, you can sell almost any piece of crap... but, if it rides a little lower and looks like a wagon, you can't give it away..

Which is why they have a Venza instead of a Camry wagon. The new CrossTour, instead of an Accord or TSX wagon.. And, why Infiniti has a $5K incentive on their not tall enough EX35...

It's also why the new Caddy SRX, which is a warmed over FWD-based Equinox, will out-sell the new RWD CTS wagon by 10-1.. even though the CTS wagon is by far the better vehicle..

It's only old guys who like wagons.... and their aren't enough of us around..

Really? Ever since I got interested in them and started looking and noticing, I'm seeing TONS of them around. Now to be fair, this is Pennsylvania, land of harsh, snowy, icy winters, so there are probably more AWD's and FWD's here than some parts of the country anyway.

I do have to agree with another poster than women tend to like SUV's better than wagons. I guess I'm kind of the exception -- I've been looking for something that does everything an SUV does but does it better and isn't an SUV.

I haven't had the chance to look around much since I made my initial posts back in July, but so far an XC70 is still at the top of my wish list. I did go look at the Subarus but they just didn't "do it" for me. There are a number of other things I will eventually go and look at but this is most definitely the direction I am leaning.

I am interested in buying a used toyota from a reputable dealer. I was told that due to an increase in stolen vehicles from their lot, that all vehicles are window etched when they arrive at the dealership. Unfortunately they pass on that cost to the consumer to the tune of $369!!!!! Any ideas on how to handle this anti theft cost refusal in a polite yet firm manner?

Volvomax -- saw a Xc70 yesterday and have it on my list. Have two years left on my murano lease. Nice car but a wagon may suit us better. Hyothetically -- if I were to negotiate a deal with you for a new/low mile used unit in 2011 and drove to texas to get it -- could I trade in the murano if i had a month left on the lease? Sign the papers and drive back home with a few stopovers for golf?

>My take on it? Women hate station wagons, and love SUVs.. If it rides up high like a truck, you can sell almost any piece of crap... but, if it rides a little lower and looks like a wagon, you can't give it away.. big seller. The new one isn't selling b/c (1) quality issues and (2) stupid design. By stupid design, I don't mean the style, which is very nice...a nice update. Instead I mean that that they made it 400 lbs heaver and gave it a less useful engine, while decreasing space. What were they thinking?

While folks at BMW were making a 5 series that was bigger, roomier and lighter weight, the Volvo got smaller and heavier. Take that, add quality issues with the new model, and you have a sales problem.